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THE COMING CRASH

  The writer is an FT contributing editor, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of a forthcoming book on globalisation One of the extraordinary aspects of SpaceX’s IPO has been the scramble to buy shares outside of America. In Australia, brokers’ call centres opened emergency hours. Over 100,000 people in stagnant Britain applied for an alternative journey on Elon Musk’s financial rocket. There was an investor stampede in Japan. In South Korea unmet demand has become a national scandal. Chinese buyers were barred by US authorities but still found back channels. Even as the Gulf states worry about waning US defence guarantees, their sovereign funds placed multibillion-dollar orders.  The frenzy reflects Musk-mania and a bigger trend. Foreigners’ holdings of US shares have hit $22tn, over triple the level in 2015. In many places, the best way of creating wealth has been owning a stake in US capitalism. Gatecrashing America’s party has been staggeringly lucrativ...
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  I give money to every beggar and homeless person I see. The reality is they will enjoy the booze and drugs my money can buy more than I will at my age. Not that I gave a penny to a bloke on London’s Golden Jubilee Bridge last week. His sign could be read a hundred metres away. “Hungry — need food.” I could also see that he was a danger to the structural integrity of the pylons. A big lad — and badly advised in his choice of words, I feared. Good luck to him, though. I feel less sympathy, however, with those who complain about “the cost of living crisis” when they clearly spend like mad. It’s the same with investing. And, frankly, I’m one of the worst culprits. You shouldn’t feel sorry for my meagre pension pot after three decades of employment, as I have a bad habit of living beyond my means. My lifestyle wasn’t excessive when I was a managing director of a global bank. But why did I buy a yacht post-divorce (and, worse, keep it when I lost my job)? What explains the holidays to ...
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